Esoteric London

King William Street, London, EC4. Photo ©RogerDean 2011

Low-Life Deeps, An Account Of The Strange Fish To Be Found There – James Greenwood, 1875:

The excavations under the ancient houses of Dudley Street possess no windows at all, and the only way in which light and ventilation can be conveyed to the wretched inhabitants is through a hole in the pavement – a narrow opening, no larger than might be made by removing an ordinary paving-stone. Leading down into the cellar is a ladder or a flight of wooden steps protected by a handrail.

[The whole of the Greenwood’s Low-Life Deeps can be found at www.victorianlondon.org. R.D.]